Late
by thisiswhereIkeepmyfics
Summary: Rita tells Iain that she's late. How does he react?
1. Chapter 1

I've been trying to 'finish' this almost all week but it seems to have taken on a life of it's own so I'm going to split it up, I think there'll be 3 chapters in total. I'd love to know what you think

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"Iain" Rita said softly as she walked into the living room where he was watching the early morning news with a cuppa before work.

"Yeah?" He didn't look up from the TV.

"I erm, I'm late"

Iain frowned, "no you're not, we've got more than half an hour before we've got to leave, that's plenty of time."

"I don't mean for work" Rita sighed, "I mean my period. I'm late."

Iain flicked off the tv and turned to face Rita, "you're pregnant?" She shrugged, "how late are you?"

Rita shrugged again, "I've never really been regular enough to give you an exact date but I should have come on sometime last week."

"Have you done a test or…?"

"No" Rita looked down fiddling with her fingers, "No, I...no."

"Hey" Iain noticed how Rita's hands were shaking and he stood up, holding his arms out, "come here."

She nervously walked over to him, not sure how he was going to react to the news, she flinched slightly as he stepped closer to her but she needn't have worried, he wrapped his arms around her and sat back down, pulling her to sit on his lap, "I'm sorry" she whispered, burying her head against Iain's chest as she began to sob, "I'm so sorry Iain."

"Hey" Iain kissed Rita's forehead as he held her close and gently rubbed circles on her back, "what are you apologising for?"

"Everything" Rita whispered, "I should have been more careful, I should have…"

"Hey, no" Iain interrupted her, "we should have been more careful, if you are pregnant then you didn't do it on your own, this is as much my fault, as much my responsibility as it is yours."

"But I'm on the pill."

"Have you missed any?" Rita shook her head, "then it's not your fault, we both know the pill isn't 100% effective, you can't help that. If I didn't trust you to take it then I'd have suggested we use condoms too but…" he shrugged, "it's just one of those things, if you're to blame because your pill's failed then I'm equally to blame for not using a condom."

"You, you're not angry with me?" Rita whispered into Iain's chest.

"Of course not" Iain kissed her head, "why would I be?" Rita said nothing, keeping her head hidden against his chest, "Rita Darlin' talk to me."

"I erm, I got pregnant before" she confessed, "when I was with Mark."

"Oh Rita" he sighed before cautiously asking, "what happened, you don't need to tell me if you'd rather not" he said quickly.

"He didn't want a baby" Rita whispered, "so erm, I, I had an abortion. I, I'll get rid of this one too if you want me to."

"What do you want?" Iain asked, getting the impression Rita didn't really get a choice last time.

"What?" Rita frowned.

"If you're pregnant" Iain asked softly, "what would you want to do?"

"I don't, I don't know" Rita whispered.

"Okay" Iain kissed her head, "why don't we wait and see if you're pregnant before we start to worry about anything."

"What would you want to do?" She asked, her voice shaking.

Iain shrugged, "it would be your decision" he told her, "whatever you wanted to do I'd support you, if you wanted to keep it I'd be there every step of the way but if you think it's too soon, not the right time, whatever, then I'd understand and I'd support you through that too."

"Do you, do you want kids?" Rita asked softly, her head still nuzzled against Iain..

"Yeah, I think I would, I didn't used to but I think I'd just not found the person I wanted them with."

"I don't…"

"I want to have a family Rita, but I want to have that with you. It doesn't have to be now though, if you are pregnant and you don't feel like now's the right time then we don't have to do it now. I'm not… I won't force you into anything Reet, if you are pregnant then we can talk about things as much as you like and I'll give you my opinions if you want them but the final decision will be yours and I will support you and be there for you no matter what you choose." He said before cautiously asking, "do you want a family?"

Rita nodded, "I erm, when I got pregnant with Mark, I, I wanted to… but he didn't so…" she shrugged slightly, her eyes filling with tears again as she thought back to what she'd done, "I don't know if I could do that again Iain."

"Hey" he kissed her head and gently rubbed her back, "you won't have to Darling, not if you don't want to, it's your body and it's your choice yeah, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, I'll get you a test later and we can find out for sure tonight."

"Thank you" Rita whispered.

"What for?"

"For, for being so understanding, for not being angry."

"I could never be angry with you Darling" Iain said before kissing Rita's head and wiping at her tears, "and you've done nothing wrong okay, if, if you are pregnant then we'll deal with it, I won't leave, I won't shout or scream and I certainly won't force you to have an abortion. I love you Rita alright? As far as I'm concerned this is it for me, me and you, baby or no baby, I'm not going anywhere."

"I love you" Rita whispered.

Iain smiled softly, he could feel Rita's tears seeping through his t shirt and it broke his heart to know she was so upset about something that was partly his fault, "I love you too Reet." They sat in silence for a while, Iain doing his best to comfort Rita before he looked up at the clock and swore, "you go and sort yourself out" he told Rita, dropping another kiss to her forehead, I'll change my top and then I'll drive us in."

"Drive, I don't…" Rita frowned, they were only a 15 minute walk from the hospital, they never drove to work.

"Look at the time" Iain told her, "if we don't get a wriggle on you won't be the only one that's late" he joked, kissing Rita a final time, "don't worry about a thing, whatever happens we'll be okay" he told her before going in search of a clean tshirt, Rita heading into the bathroom to redo her makeup, she only hoped Iain was right.


	2. Chapter 2

I've managed to sneak a little bit of Iain/Jez banter into this chapter. I hope you like it :)

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"Rita, Rita."

"Sorry Ethan, what can I do for you?"

"Are you okay? I don't mean to pry only I've been stood here a while and you seemed to be miles away."

"Me?" Rita forced a smile, "no, I'm fine, just a few too many long shifts, looking forward to a day off tomorrow" she lied, in reality there was only one thing on her mind, what if she was pregnant? Did Iain really want a baby or was he just saying that so he didn't upset her? Would he really stick around or would he disappear in the middle of the night, not wanting the responsibilities that came with raising a child?

"Lucky you" Ethan smiled, "I've got another 3 shifts before I get a day off" he told her before remembering why he wanted to speak to her in the first place, "have Mrs Harlow's results come back from the lab yet?"

Rita shook her head, "I haven't seen them, do you want me to chase them up?"

"Please" Ethan nodded, "if you wouldn't mind."

Rita nodded, "I'll do it now" she said, reaching for the phone, desperate for something to take her mind off the thoughts racing through her head.

"What we doing here Mate?" Jez asked as Iain parked the ambulance in the carpark of a retail park not far from the hospital.

"I've just got to pick something up, I won't be a minute, I'll be straight out if we get a shout." He hopped from the ambulance and walked through the car park towards boots. Once in the store he found the pregnancy tests easily and picked up one that would clearly tell them 'pregnant' or 'not pregnant' without needing to mess about trying to look for lines or to try and understand various symbols.

He was making his way to the till when he stopped, he could easily hide the pregnancy test in his pocket but Jez would ask questions if he came back empty handed. He chuckled to himself as he saw a display, picking up a box of tampons before heading back to the till, Jez wouldn't ask any questions when he saw those.

He paid at the self service checkout to avoid any remarks or funny looks about his unusual combination of items, and slipped the pregnancy test into the inside pocket of his coat, walking out of the shop with the tampons in a carrier bag.

"Got anything interesting?" Jez asked, just as Iain predicted, when he got back in the ambulance.

"Nah, not really, just something for Rita." He said, chucking the carrier bag onto Jez's lap as he pulled out of the parking space.

Jez glanced into the bag before dropping it on the floor of the ambulance, "Eww mate."

"What?"

"They, they're… God she's got you whipped. I'd never buy things like that."

"Why?" Ian decided to tease Jez, "it's a perfectly natural bodily function, Rita doesn't ask to have periods, the least I can do is make sure she's got what she needs ready for when she gets her period" he said, glancing over to see Jez's cheeks blush each time he used the word period, "even your Mum has periods."

"No, no, shut up. I thought you were getting jonnies or something mate."

"Nah, why would I pay for them? You can just go upstairs to the sexual health clinic and get them free" he said, not wanting to go into too much detail about the contraception he and Rita did or didn't use.

"Yeah but then people see you getting them."

"They see you getting them when you buy them." Iain frowned.

"Not if you buy them online" Jez smirked.

Iain laughed, "seriously Mate?" Jez nodded, "if you're not man enough to go into a shop and buy condoms then you're not really man enough to be having sex mate, no one cares what you're buying."

"What if my mum finds them?"

"She'll find them whether you buy them in the shops or online, and does it really matter? You're an adult, you're having sex and you're being responsible about it" Iain told him as he pulled up outside the hospital, "do we need to sit down and have a talk, man to man?" He asked as he turned to face the younger paramedic, a serious look on his face.

"No" Jez said as he jumped from the ambulance, quickly making his way inside the ambulance station, "no, definitely not."

"I'm heading over to the hospital" Iain told Jez, "bring the ambo round if we get a shout" he said, taking the carrier bag from the passenger footwell before tossing the keys to Jez and heading towards the hospital in search of his girlfriend.

He found Rita in her office, "present for you" he said, throwing her the bag which she caught easily.

"Tampons?" She frowned, "is that some sort of joke because if it is Iain it's not funny."

"No, no, I had to buy something so I didn't come out of the shop empty handed, Jez would have asked questions, here" he reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out the pregnancy test.

"Thanks" Rita dropped it into the bag before putting it in a drawer of her desk, "I know I could have had one done here but…"

"You don't want everyone knowing" Iain nodded, "it's fine Love, honestly, I don't mind."

"I'll do it tonight, at home."

"Do you want me to be there?"

Rita nodded, "please, if you don't mind."

Iain nodded and walked over to Rita, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close, "of course I'll be there with you, I told you, whatever happens we do it together yeah?"

"Yeah" Rita nodded, "thank you."

Iain only pulled away when he got a call to another shout, a woman collapsed in the high street. "I'll see you later" he promised, kissing Rita's lips and telling her "don't worry about a thing Reet, we'll be okay whatever happens" before he winked cheekily at her and raced out of the department to where Jez was already waiting with the ambulance.

They walked home in silence, both thinking about the pregnancy test hidden in the bottom of her handbag, "I erm, I'll go and do it now" Rita told him once they were safely inside her house, "I drank a bottle of water before we left the hospital."

Iain smiled, "I'll be in the kitchen, I'll make us a brew yeah? Come through when you're ready."

Rita reappeared a few minutes later and placed the white plastic stick on the sideboard as she gratefully accepted the mug Iain held out to her before glancing at her phone, "two minutes" she whispered.

Iain nodded and wrapped his free arm around Rita, he could see her hands shaking, "we'll be okay" he promised.

"Can you look? I, I don't think I can." She said quietly when the time was up.

Iain nodded again and kissed her temple before putting his mug down and picking up the pregnancy test, "it's negative" he told her.

"Oh." Rita wasn't sure whether she was relieved or disappointed.

"Are you okay with that?" Iain asked softly as he took her in his arms once again.

"I don't know" she said honestly, "I, I was scared, terrified that it would be positive but now, I'm, well, I'm a bit disappointed I think."

"We could try again, well not again because we weren't trying but you could stop taking the pill and we could see what happens?"

"Yeah" Rita nodded, "I erm, I'll keep taking it til we're settled though."

"What do you mean?" Iain frowned.

"If we're going to do this, if we're starting a family I want us to live together and we'll have more space here than at your flat so…"

"You want me to move in?"

Rita nodded and smiled, "I want you to move in, we could go and fetch a few of your clothes and things now if you like, stop having to flit between both places every couple of nights"

Iain nodded and kissed Rita's lips, "I think that's the best idea you've ever had."


	3. Chapter 3

Here we go, the third and final chapter :) I needed a fluffy break from all the angst I seem to be writing at the moment, so here you go, some fluffy Riain and some Zita friendship. Enjoy :D

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"Zoe, have you got a minute?" Rita asked her as she saw her stood at the nurse's station.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Not here, can we erm, can we go to my office?"

"Sure" Zoe logged off the computer and followed Rita into her office, sitting down in a chair as Rita perched on the edge of her desk, "is something wrong?"

"I erm, I want to ask you something, as a doctor… something personal."

"Is everything okay Rita?" Zoe asked, beginning to feel concerned for her friend.

"I know it's not really your area of expertise but I haven't had a period in almost 10 weeks" she told Zoe, "I erm, I've done a couple of home pregnancy tests but they've all been negative. I was wondering if it was worth doing a blood test or if that would just say the same thing."

"You're right" Zoe nodded, "it's not my area of expertise, but if it's been 10 weeks since your last period then that'd put you almost out of the first trimester which is when the pregnancy hormone tends to peak so I'd be very surprised if that didn't show on a urine test, false negatives usually happen very early on… Have you had any other symptoms?"

Rita shook her head, "I erm, I usually feel a bit bloated and achey a few days before I come on, I've felt like that for a couple of weeks now but…" she shrugged, "nothing. I think I might have been too early with the first test but I've done two more since then but they've both been negative too."

"Does Iain know?"

"He knows I was late, he bought the first test and we did it together, I don't know if he knows I haven't come on yet, we've had a couple of weeks of opposite shifts so we haven't really had chance to do anything so he doesn't… sorry, you don't want to know all this."

Zoe laughed, "why don't we send off some bloods anyway? We can find out for sure and we can put your mind at rest as to whether there's anything else going on."

Rita nodded, "would you mind?"

"Of course not" Zoe smiled at her friend, "Do you want to get it done now? See if we can get the results back before the end of the shift?" Rita nodded, and Zoe continued, "I'll run a full set of bloods, then even if they come back negative they might give us a hint to what's wrong."

Rita nodded again, "thank you."

"Rita" Zoe caught up with her a few hours later, "can I borrow you a sec, it's about those results you were chasing up earlier."

Rita nodded, "of course. My office?" She said, excusing herself from her conversation with Robyn so she could follow Zoe into her own office, "have you looked?" She asked as Zoe passed her the folded sheet of white paper.

Zoe shook her head, "that came through separately, the rest of your bloods came back fine other than showing you're a little anaemic, nothing too serious though." Rita nodded again, biting her bottom lip as she read the information on the sheet Zoe had given her. "Well…" the suspense was killing Zoe.

Rita folded up the paper, "I erm, I don't want to say too much til I've spoken to Iain but things are looking quite positive" her lips curled into a smile as Zoe too began to grin and wrapped Rita in a tight hug.

"Congratulations"

"Thanks" Rita smiled as she returned the hug, passing the paper over to Zoe once they finally stepped away, "my HCG levels are quite high so you're probably right about me already being at the end of the first trimester."

"And you've had no nausea or anything?"

Rita shook her head, "my boobs, stomach and pelvic area ache and I feel bloated but I get that every month before my period so I didn't really think anything of it, I just…" she trailed off and frowned slightly.

"Is everything okay?" Zoe asked.

"I erm…" Rita put one hand on her stomach and pushed down gently, "it erm, it's quite hard, I thought I was just bloated but…"

Zoe smiled, "is Iain working today?"

Rita shook her head, "he's got the day off."

Zoe glanced at the clock, you finish in half an hour and I happen to know Connie's in a meeting upstairs that isn't scheduled to finish for another hour so why don't you sneak off? If anyone says anything we'll say you had a dentist appointment or something."

"Are you sure?"

Zoe nodded, "go on, you go and tell Iain how positive things are looking, and don't worry, I'm not going to say anything."

Rita hugged Zoe again, "thanks Zoe, you're the best" she beamed, making her way out of her office, paper in hand, so she could change and get home to Iain.

"Hiya Love" Iain called when he heard the door open, assuming it would be her, "you're home early."

Rita walked through to the kitchen where Iain was stood washing the pots, smiling softly at how 'right' it seemed, how natural it felt to come home to him. There'd been no official 'date' no 'big move' just a gradual increase of his things into her house, and a slow decline of the number of nights spent at his apartment, they'd talked about it, planned to give it a few months of living together to be sure it wasn't too big a step before she stopped taking the pill. Rita only hoped this wasn't going to throw a spanner in the works, "can we talk?" She asked softly

"Yeah" Iain wiped his hands on the tea towel before turning to face Rita, frowning as he saw the worry on her face, "are you alright?"

"I erm, I still haven't had a period since I told you I was late, I did a couple more tests but they were all negative so+ I spoke to Zoe earlier and she did a blood test" Rita reached into her bag and pulled out the paper, "here" her hands shook as she handed it over to him.

Iain frowned and took the paper, unfolding it and reading the results, "I don't…" it was obvious that Rita had been tested for something, something that had been found in her blood.

"HCG" Rita said softly, "it erm, it's a hormone that women only produce when they're pregnant, my levels are quite high which means…"

She didn't get to finish, "you're pregnant" Iain gasped, dropping the paper so he could wrap his arms around her waist, lifting her from her feet and spinning her in the air.

"I am" Rita smiled when Iain finally stood her back on the floor, "and I suppose I don't have to ask how you feel about that."

Iain smiled, "we're having a baby" he grinned before his smile suddenly dropped.

"What's wrong?" Rita asked.

"You" he suddenly looked worried, "are you okay?"

Rita nodded, touched by his concern, "I'm okay" she said, reaching out to stroke her thumb over his cheek, "Zoe said I'm a little bit anaemic but there's nothing to worry about."

Iain smiled "we're having a baby" he whispered, his eyes filling with tears, "we're having a baby."

"Yeah" Rita ran her thumbs under Iain's eyes, catching his tears, "we are."

Iain sat down at the kitchen table, his hand coming to rest on Rita's stomach, "hello baby" he said softly, "I'm your Daddy" he whispered as Rita ran her hand through his hair, "I'm your Daddy and I'm going to love you just as much as I love your Mummy. I'm probably going to spoil you too even though Mummy will probably tell me not to but you see, things weren't great when I was a kid, and I promise you baby, I promise you you'll have better. You'll have a Mummy and a Daddy who absolutely adore you, you'll have more toys than you can count, you'll be happy, you'll never go hungry and you'll be loved, oh baby we're going to love you so much" he whispered before softly brushing his lips against Rita's stomach, "you're going to be so loved.


End file.
